There is almost never a single platform that runs an entire organisation. Many have tried, but it rarely works. Each business has unique elements, even within the same industry, and requires specialised systems for different areas within the organisation. This can be in the form of a whole new software system or can be as simple as a spreadsheet.
However, this creates a problem - it means that we’re often double handling data across the organisation, which not only creates inefficiencies, but can lead to inaccurate data, since no one knows where the real source of truth is!
System Integration can help to remove double entry and improve data quality by ensuring that data that needs to be replicated across systems is done automatically and error free.
Consider the examples below:
Connecting HR, Rostering and Award Interpretor/Payroll Systems
Are you paying under a complex industrial award that requires an Award Interpreter? Reduce the need to double handle data, or manually upload employee hours to your payroll system - let integration take that load so that you can focus on the important thing:
Paying Right and Paying On Time!
The diagram below shows a real example of how Datamagic helped an organisation in the Community Services Industry to solve a number of these challenges.
When replacing the rostering and client service management systems, the organisation still needed to connect to their existing Award Interpretation software.
During discovery, it was identified that there were different requirements between new rostering system and the existing interpretation software. For example, in the new rostering system break times could not be entered, only duration. This limitation prevented the Award Interpretation software from having the information required to correctly calculate evening and weekend penalties on overnight shifts.
Datamagic developed processes to transform data as it was transferred from the rostering system to the Award Interpretor in order to ensure that employee's pay could be correctly calculated. Part of this process was to use identifying information on particular shift types to insert a break when transferring the shift details to the Award Interpretor, this ensured correct calculation of penalties.
Employee information required for rostering and payroll purposes was sent from the HR system to a Master Data Hub, this allowed for checks to be conducted prior to creating and updating employee records in each system. Records that were missing mandatory information, or flagged as potential duplicates were held in quarantine to be reviewed before being passed to the destination systems.
We also set up error management automation, that ensured users were warned when information needed to be reviewed and updated to ensure correct pay calculations.
Automated Provisioning of Systems for Onboarding and Offboarding Employees
In industries with high compliance and training requirements, there are almost certainly a number of systems that new employees or subcontractors need to be added to when they come on board and perhaps just as important, when those same employees or subcontractors finish up with the organisation, they need to be removed for security and to ensure that licenses are being paid for when not being used.
An example of this is in the mining industry. When a new employee is onboarded, they will typically need:
- Email, calendar and collaboration tools (typically Office 365, but also often Google Apps),
- Enrolment in Active Directory or any other single sign on platform,
- Provisioning of user licenses,
- Access to a Learning Management System (LMS) in order to complete the required training to attend a mine site,
- Access to HR software (often something like SAP or Success Factors).
In addition, as construction of a new mine ramps up, a high number of new employees and/or subcontractors need to be added to each system. This means that the process can quickly become overwhelming, not to mention error prone, if handled as a manual process.
Datamagic was engaged by a well known mining company to help solve these challenges. As part of the solution, we implemented:
- A workflow platform that captured information about a new employee and captured approval requests from a new employee’s line manager, IT department and HR department,
- A master data management platform that de-duplicated employees and ensured that if a past employee came on board, they could be re-activated, rather than a duplicate created,
- Processes that ensured that business rules were followed for the capture of data, such as validating email addresses, phone numbers and addresses,
- Automated deployment of approved users to Office 365, Learning Management Systems, SAP, payroll and shift scheduling systems,
- Automated offboarding of employees when they left the organisation, including disabling them in each of the above systems.
The result was a far more efficient, robust and secure process for onboarding and offboarding staff across the organisation. This increased productivity meant that the HR and IT departments were able to handle significantly higher volumes of onboarding and offboarding with fewer issues than previously experienced.
An example of how this was implemented is shown below.
Employee Onboarding
Employee Offboarding
